WAVERLY, Iowa – Down two goals early in the first half, the Macalester College men's soccer team fought back to take the lead before tying with Wartburg College on the road, 3-3 to start the 2015 season Tuesday afternoon.

The Knights, who were ranked 17th in the NSCAA Division III Preseason Poll, opened the scoring with a goal by Ben Johnson off a rebound in the 17th minute. A shot by Paris Martins from 25 yards out dipped under the bar to make it a 2-0 lead 24 minutes into the game. Just over four minutes later, junior forward Austin Burrows (Roseville, Calif./Jesuit) knocked in a corner kick from junior defender Robert Tomecek (Lisle, Ill./Benet Academy) to put the Scots on the scoreboard.

A minute after Burrows' tally, Macalester earned another corner kick. After Wartburg failed to clear the ball, Tomecek collected a loose ball to the right of the goal and sent a crossing pass to sophomore midfielder Tristan Springer (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale), who scored from 18 yards out to tie the score at 2-2.

Momentum stayed with the Scots out of the halftime break. In the 48th minute, a Macalester counterattack gave the ball to Burrows in the middle of the field 35 yards out. His diagonal pass found junior forward Charlie Spurr (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt), who blasted a shot past Knights' goalkeeper Austin Boyke for a 3-2 advantage. The lead lasted just 24 seconds, as Kevin Krueger beat junior goalkeeper Zeke Vainer (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) with a 19-yard free kick following a Macalester hand ball just outside the penalty area.

After the teams combined for six goals in the first 49 minutes of the game, neither team could find the net through the rest of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. Vainer, the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference goalkeeper in 2014, made 10 saves in goal for Macalester. Boyke notched four saves for Wartburg.

"Credit Wartburg," head coach Gregg Olson said. "Their experience proved worthy as they started strong and we were on our back foot. Once we settled, we played well. Max Abramson (Del Mar, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy) entered the game and he changed the flow of the game. Robert Tomecek's quality on final balls proved vital as we capitalized in two key moments. Tristan Springer's goal was quality. The ball Robert played him and the composure on the finish was very mature.

"On our third goal, Dylan Wong (Clarksburg, Calif./Jesuit) won a strong challenge and Austin Burrows slipped a nice ball through to Charlie Spurr, who finished what became our final goal of the day. Unfortunately, Wartburg quickly responded with a bomb of a direct kick. From there, both teams had to grind out the rest of a hot day with two overtimes. Regardless of giving up 3 goals, Zeke Vainer played really well and came up with some big moments."

The Scots open their home schedule on Friday, Sept. 4 with a non-conference game against UW-Platteville. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Macalester Stadium.